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5 Tips To Build Muscle Fast

"How can I build muscle fast?" and "How long does it take to build muscle?" They're two common questions I regularly get from clients wanting to build muscle.

There's a multitude of supplement companies out there, all ultra-eager and vying for your time, attention and money. And they're more than happy to peddle the "uniqueness" of their approach if it means you'll hand over your credit card details all the more quickly.

So let's now focus on the core basics of how to build big muscles naturally. And by the end of this piece, you'll be much better equipped to build muscles.

1. Get A Plan And Stick To It!

This bit's crucial. Many magazines would have you believe it's okay to hop from one program to the next, usually in keeping with their own monthly production. This is definitely NOT the way to build muscle mass, and will only hamper your muscle growth progress and frustrate you.

Instead, select a program that covers at least 12-weeks, and then fully commit to following it to the letter. Put all other advice on the backburner in the meantime, and concentrate exclusively on the program you've selected. Truth be told, even a pretty average plan to build muscle will work if you follow it completely, and a decent muscle building program can work wonders.

The problem for most people is in sticking to what they are meant to be doing at least 90% of the time. Get this bit right, and you're well ahead of the crowd.

2. Use the "Progressive Overload" Principle

Give your muscles a good enough reason to grow, and they will. Sure, it takes efforts, but that's the commitment you have to be willing to make to build muscle mass successfully.

Each and every workout, aim to "out-do" your previous best effort. This can be achieved by lifting heavier weights, performing more reps with the weight, and also by finishing your exercises in less and less time. It's this form of progressive overload - in which you sequentially subject your muscles higher degrees of intensity and stress - that result in the best muscle growth gains. Simply put, lift heavy weights with higher and higher repetitions to build muscle fast.

3. Consume Plenty Of Healthy Calories

Your muscles need fuel in order to grow. And it often surprises many people to realise quite how many calories they need to be consuming each day to build muscle fast and successfully.

So, if your aim is primarily to gain muscle weight, use this calculation to estimate the bare minimum number of calories to aim for each day. Take your Lean Body Mass (in pounds), and multiply that by 17. Lean Body Mass is simply your overall bodyweight minus your fat body weight. A way of calculating this can be found here: http://themiddlemanager.wordpress.com/2007/01/30/lean-body-mass/

4. Drink A Protein Shake Before, During AND After Each Workout

It's essential your muscles are appropriately fuelled throughout the course of your high intensity, progressive overload, weight training sessions. Ideally, opt for a protein shake that has 'protein hydrolysate' as it's primary ingredient - since this type of protein is delivered most readily as fuel to your muscles - and consider also including the supplements creatine and glutamine in your mix as well.

Some of you may be thinking..."Gee, three protein shakes sounds a little excessive" but it really is a key component of any serious plan to build muscle fast.

5. Rest and Recover Completely Between Workouts

This aspect is usally missing in most trainees' programs. In fact, it's a major contributor to so many failed attempts to build muscle.

Returning to the weights room too soon will likely have a very negative impact on your ability to build muscle mass over time.

You're much better off scheduling a 48-72 hour break between workouts. This will assist not only your muscles, but your immune, hormonal and central nervous systems to recover also. These systems require longer to recover, and do so best when you build in enough sleep and rest between your exercise sessions too.

Use your progress charts as a guide to whether you're getting enough rest. Aim for a 5% increase in strength each week. And if you're not making progress from one session to the next each session, consider that a wake-up call to head home and rest up some more.

Conclusion

By incorporating these principles into your own approach to build muscle, you can look forward to noticing a real increase in muscle size within just a matter of weeks. And although this account of how to build muscle fast is more a set of guidelines for the beginner and intermediate alike, it should help you sort through a lot of the waffle out there. So, if you'd like to find out more about the actual specifics of how to build muscle fast, I recommend you use the links in the article to 'drill down' into better detail precisely what you're looking for.

To your success!

Matt Carter

Seed Newsvine

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